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The big trucks keep a smile on Cassie’s face

16 October 2018

After working in a series of jobs, 25 year old Cassie Broadfoot has found one that puts a smile on her face every day.

Cassie is a trainee operator at the Jeebropilly Coal Mine and just the thought of climbing into the cabin of her very large coal truck makes her smile.

An Ipswich local, Cassie was alerted to the possibility of a traineeship when her neighbour showed her an advertisement in the local paper.

“I was working in an automotive company at the time and never really thought about a job in the mines,” Cassie said.

“I’d had a series of jobs in child care, hospitality and the fitness industry but thought why not ‘have a crack’.”

Cassie is one of nine locals selected by New Hope to take on a traineeship program, seven of which are at its New Acland mine and two at its Jeebropilly mine.

“I was a little concerned coming in, being one of just four female operators on the site and also one of the youngest,” Cassie said.

“But everyone has been super supportive and really taken me under their wing.

“It’s also helped to have the other trainee, Anna, on the same crew as me. We’ve become great friends after spending every day of the first six weeks of the traineeship together.

“Probably the hardest thing to get used to is the shift work. My partner is an electrician so sometimes he’ll be coming home from work as I’m heading out, but we are making it work.

“And when I get to site and see the big machinery I get excited all over again.

“I’m hoping that after my traineeship I can stay on with New Hope on one of their sites.”

Operations Manager at Jeebropilly, Trent Knack said there are a number of reasons why New Hope is a great place to start a mining career.

“Jeebropilly has been an important contributor to the local economy for a long time and is recognised as an innovative and forward looking mine,” Trent said.

“We encourage our experienced team of miners to think creatively about the issues they face daily and we are proud to have implemented a number of the innovations that have come from that

“We also value training and the opportunity to continually learn new skills.

“With Jeebropilly coming to the end of operations in 2019 we have started looking at what’s next for our crews.

“We are focused on preparing our team as best we can for the future.

“Obviously we’d like our trainees to remain at New Hope, but where ever they decide to go after the program ends, they will have the advantage of having worked on a mine site that is respected across the industry.”